miamivicefandomcom-20200223-history
Death and the Lady
"Death and the Lady" is the third episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. The episode premiered on October 16, 1987 and repeated on January 29, 1988. Summary Accusations of a murder on screen prompt Crockett & Tubbs to investigate the film's director. Plot The 11th Continental Erotic Film Festival is going on, and the top film, Death and the Lady's director, Milton Glantz (Paul Guilfoyle) is being honored when a deranged man, Tulane Knox (Michael David Morrison) screams that the end scene is a murder, and is escorted out by Gina & Trudy. At OCB, Knox continues to claim the girl at the end of the movie was really killed, not a fake. Crockett found his rap sheet with a ton of obscenity arrests and on parole. He claims the girl in the movie named Blondie was brought into the scene by Knox and a lighting person with a wolf mask on, and then Glantz excused everyone except the three, and the man in the wolf mask killed Blondie for real. Crockett believes the whole thing is a publicity stunt to get more ticket sales. Trudy finds info on Glantz that he did more classic-style films before delving into porn, Gina mentions he called it "Erotic Performance Art". While pouring over evidence found in a cocaine lab bust, they find a kitten in the box and Crockett gives it to Gina to replace a lost cat of hers. Tubbs wants to pursue Knox' claim about the murder and so does Castillo, because the mayor has ties to some of Glantz' paintings. Crockett goes to see Glantz, who says Blondie's name is Lori Swann, and she's around the festival promoting the movie, and during their discussion Glantz paints an erotic picture, then puts it to the torch with no comment. Tubbs speaks to the crew of the film but no one speaks about the ending. Crockett & Tubbs go to a sex bar to track down Lori Swann (Kelly Lynch), and Crockett finds her on the other side of the glass. Crockett & Tubbs go see Knox with their info and he still claims Glantz killed her. The squad is watching the film when Crockett looks at the closeup of the girl's eyes and says she is dead, but needs proof. Crockett and Tubbs go to a porn archivist who finds Swann made two films with Glantz, the other called Twins and shows Crockett and Tubbs a still from the movie, where the two actresses look alike. Crockett goes back to the club and finds out from Swann that the other girl is named "Blaize," and that they met at art school. Gina & Trudy go to the art school and find the other girl's real name is Amy Ryder. She had a locker there with a sketch book with a drawn picture of disturbing dead people.. Crockett (as Burnett) goes to Amy's apartment to return the sketch book and finds Amy's sister Jill (Penelope Ann Miller), who says Amy just stepped out. Crockett & Tubbs visit Glantz at a party and asks him about the fact that the cameraman wasn't present during the final scene, and he shows them the person that did the still scene, Margot Frank, who says it was "fun" to play someone raped and then "murdered." Glantz eagerly "stabs" the lady in a cake celebrating his movie. Crockett looks over some still photos of the movie on the St. Vitus Dance while listening to an interview of Glantz about the use of violence in his movies, in which he says the public has an appetite for violence and that his movies walk the fine line between reality and fiction. Tubbs stops by and Crockett reviews the edge numbers on the stills, realizing that someone is lying. He goes back to see Jill, who says Amy moved out a couple of months ago to do the movie with Glantz, but refuses to say more, so Crockett takes her & her father to OCB. Tubbs asks the coroner to pull records on unclaimed DB's with stabbing as cause of death. Jill says Amy had terminal cancer, and that Glantz gave her a lot of money to cover her dad's medical expenses, but he paid in cash. Crockett & Tubbs arrest Glantz. One of the unclaimed DB's is Amy Ryder, turned up in an alley 11 days after the film wrapped. The DA (Miguel Ferrer) doesn't want to press charges because the evidence is circumstantial and the jury could be sympathetic to Amy's illness, besides the fact that Glantz wasn't present when the killing occurred. Glantz gloats to Crockett about getting off on the charge. That night Crockett drives aimlessly through streets and begins having haunting flashbacks of Amy's death in the film. Unable to bear any more, Crockett makes a detour at Glantz' house. He stares at the still of Amy's face, while Glantz watches, and talks about committing the "perfect murder," stating Amy would have died from her cancer anyway, to which Glantz says nothing. Crockett grabs him by the shirt and furiously slaps him several times across the face, asking him if he thinks violence is chic, artistic, and fun. Coming back to his senses, he lets go of the stunned Glantz and leaves. On the way, he grabs the Erotic Film Festival award and shoves it at a drunk outside. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Paul Guilfoyle as Milton Glantz *Kelly Lynch as Lori Swann *Miguel Ferrer as D.A. *Michael David Morrison as Tulane Knox *Penelope Ann Miller as Jill Ryder Co-Starring *Hal Bennett as Hayward *Marc Macaulay as Brookings *Mark McCracken as Asch *Gerald Owens as Coroner's Assistant Notes *This episode was pre-empted one week due to the 1987 National League Championship Series, which NBC was airing. *Gina had a cat in the episode "Bought and Paid For", which was lost between then and now. *This is one of a handful of episodes where Crockett snaps and gets violent with a suspect, culminating in "Deliver Us From Evil" when he is driven to cold-blooded murder. *This is also one of a very few episodes where no one gets shot or even fires a gun. *We find out in this episode that Crockett has quit smoking, which had been gradually phased out among the characters since the start of Season 3. *Glantz's penchant for burning paintings is very similar to that of Eric 'Rick' Masters, played by Willem Dafoe in the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A. (which also starred John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro and Dean Stockwell). When Michael Mann saw the film, he sued director William Friedkin for plagarism, stating that it ripped off the entire concept of Miami Vice (the movie depicts two Sercret Service agents going to extremes in their pursuit of a master counterfeiter); Mann lost the lawsuit. *Most of Jan Hammer's soundtrack for this episode was previously used in the episodes "Little Miss Dangerous" and "Shadow In The Dark". *When Crockett is driving around having visions of Amy's murder, the footage is clearly reused from Season 3, specifically "Shadow in the Dark," as Crockett has his spiked haircut in the scene. Production Notes * Working Title: "Death and the Maiden" * Filmed: August 3, 1987 - August 11, 1987 * Production Code: 63501 * Production Order: 69 Filming Locations * Wall picture of Fontainbleau Hilton Hotel, 4441 Collins Ave, Miami Beach (Crockett drives through night) * 1235 Club, 1235 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Glantz's house) Music *"Vet For The Insane" by Fields of the Nephilim (Opening sequence when film is played) *"Never Let Me Down Again (Aggro Mix)" by Depeche Mode (Crockett goes to see Glantz) *"The Story Never Ends" by Naked Prey (Crockett & Tubbs go to sex bar) *"Pleasure, Little Treasure" by Depeche Mode (Crockett & Tubbs at Glantz' party) *"The Edge Of Town" by The Truth (Crockett drives through the night) Quotes *"What's that doing here?" -- Castillo referring to the kitten found in the evidence box '' *"Evidence!" -- ''Crockett's reply *"Crockett, you're fixated on dead people, are you a necrophiliac?" Glantz to Crockett Category:Miami Vice Season 4 Episodes